toto. . .i don't think we're in arrrrrr-kansas anymore!

howdy ya'll!!

i knew i was back in oklahoma when my southern drawl started coming back...i say things like arange instead of orange, warsh instead of wash, arregon instead of oregon...and ya'll like none other and I'M SO SASSY!! haha i blame it on the arkansassies...hahaha anywaysss

first of all i love love love sister kitchen. we are such twins, we get along so well and teach together so well. i just love her...today we are wearing matching american flag shirts and we got gold lil bicycle necklaces becuz we couldn't find any bff necklaces hahaha we're so dumb but we are having a blast and the ward adores us, so that's good!

I HAVE BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!! i almost forgot....so last monday night we had a conference call with the whole mission talking about the 10 week goals then President says "there's going to be one more change when Sister Shumway and I go home at the end of june...started july 1st...the OKLAHOMA TULSA MISSION WILL CEASE TO EXIST" soooo obviously we are all like whaaaaaaaaat?! then he says "starting july 1st you will all be missionaries in the ARKANSAS BENTONVILLE MISSION!!!!" ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh crazy right?!!?! everything is staying the same, boundary-wise, they're just moving the mission home and mission office to bentonville!!! and guess which ward....SUGAR CREEK!!!! my homeeeeeee! isn't that awesome!! They said the new mission home is beautiful...it's a great place to be and is just so much more central to our mission! soooo cool that i'll be able to serve in two missions, with two mission presidents! I can't wait!!!

this is definitely the most challenging area i've been in...that's all i'll say...BUT i'm having a blast!! And I can't remember being happier...Sister Kitchen and I are doing amazing things with the Lords help. Even though things are challenging we are working so hard and everyday we see miracles...I'm so grateful to be here, BIG THINGS ARE COMING OUR WAY!!

tomorrow we have zone training in broken arrow and interviews with President!! MY FAVORITEEEEEEEE! I can't wait(: and I convinced to Zone Leaders that we should all meet up early and eat breakfast together...haha it'll be so sick(:

let's see...i can't even remember what we did this week...

we did a ton of volunteering around henryetta and okmulgee, which was fun!

we are helping a recently returning less active quit smoking and helped in her garden the other day and played with her itty bitty kitty! i hate cats but her kitty is so cute...and his name is oliver so like obvi i took some pictures, i'll attach one!

we did a lot of tracting this week which is always an adventure...

we went to our less active young women's jazz band concert on saturday, they were soooo good! that was fun and it meant a lot to her that we came<3 missionary work is so much more than simply teaching formal lessons!

saturday the weather was crazyyyyyy!! there were a few tornados closer to tulsa in broken arrow, it was crazy thunder, lightning, sideways rain, and wind! we were on the phone with the zone leaders til like midnight. they called like every 5 minutes to make sure we were okay. but sister kitchen and i weren't even worried, we just thought it was fun! haha gotta love that wicked oklahoma weather!!

yesterday we both had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting! i somehow ended up speaking for thirty minutes? i really dont know how that happened...but imma say the spirit? so i only left kitchey with 10 minutes haha but it turned out well! then we taught gospel principles AND young womens...haha typical day in the life, i wouldn't have it any other way!! <3<3

today we took our car into the shop and won't get it back til friday...sooo we're walking like all week...so that'll be an adventure for sure!! can't wait!!!

CAN EVERYONE DO ME A FAVOR AND PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SWEET COMPANION SISTER SMITH?!?!? She and her family needs all the prayers and love in the world right now<3<3 I LOVE YOU SISTER SMITH!!!!

sorry this email is so lame...haha...but I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE!! LETS GOOOOOOO<3

have a wonderful week errybody!!

all my love,

Sister Bailey

dear mother, all flowers remind me of you

hey errybody! comin atcha from oklahomaaaaa. it's good to be back! last transfer kind of just feels like i went on a 6 week vacation and also like it was a dream? ahhhh i miss bville....but i'm happy to be in Henryetta! It is a small town so we cover a few other towns..like Okmulgee and Okema...it's cool! reminds me a lot of marshfield and tahlequah....so many flash backs! another adventure(:

my week was insaneeeeeeeeeee and so so fun!! omg...i wish i could send videos hahaha i'll show ya'll next year! they're so funny. I love my mission and my fellow missionaries!! 

last monday eliza, sister smith, elder whitehead, elder wilson, elder barton, elder robison and i did the thing they do on princess diaries with the balloons and paint and darts! it was so fun! it ended with a paint fight and i got a ton of yellow paint in my mouth with was disgusting...but ya know! we got some sweet pictures, I'll attach em! we got chickfila and played basketball with all the Elders, which is always so fun! And since it was the last one likeee everyone was there. Elders Stokes, Saunders, Perron, Burton, Allred, Sokol, Black, Welburn, Whitehead, Wilson, Robinson, Barton and the spanish elders! good timessssss

tuesday we did service at helping hands with all the elders and i said bye to Edward our favorite worker there. I got some sweet pictures and he gave me this incredibly annoying sound machine that i used ruthlessly on transfer day...it was way too entertaining! then we all went to lunch and sister smith and i packed/cleaned/say bye like all day. it was a blast but it was also really depressing. that evening we went to see one of our investigators, Big Mike, preach to a youth group at his Pentecostal church with Micah and Seth. It was.....a different experience that's for sure! But everyone was so chill and the message was super inspiring and Mike did a great job! Then we ran to institute and said bye to everyone and played a lil volleyball in our dresses #bestYSAmissionarieseverrrrr

wednesday we cleaned and packed and got ready for the elders to come in. we had a birthday lunch for a branch mission leader, Chase (aka #C-HA$E), at a bomb thai restaurant with a ton of people it was so fun(: I even got the workers to sing him happy birthday, it was #classic! that evening we went on a hike at crystal bridges for everyone for chases birthday, we ended up walking from downtown bville to crystal bridges then went through the museum! we thought we were going on a hike-hike so we wore jeans and t shirts and converse...when we walked up to the YSA they didn't recognize me! it was hilarious...i suppose we could've worn dresses but i was all set and ready for a real hike. these Arkansas people don't know what real hiking is lol kidding(: but yeah, that was probably the best way ever to end the transfer and our last day in bville together!! 

thursday was TRANSFER DAY!! I LOVE TRANSFER DAYYYYYYY!! it's the best because you get to see allllll the mission friends! the Olson's made us breakfast @ 630 i think i ate like 10 pieces of bacon (does this sound familiar family? remember that one christmas? lol lol ) we got to transfer point in bentonville after we strategically placed our heavy luggage in our car at like 10. then we chilled with all the Elders and Eliza came too! Sister Smith got on the North loop on her way to Kansas and I cried until I got to see sooooo many of the homies. I have the funniest videos and pictures...I'll attach a few pictures from that day. Then Elder Whitehead and Elder Furman and I played catch with a tennis ball. I hung with my MTC pals Elder Horlsey and Elder Murdock and Elder Allred, which is always the most entertaining thing in the world. I had a bunch of people sign my year and a half book and we all just had a ball. Then I got on South loop at like 130. I was in the big white van with the assistants, Sister Short and a bunch of Elders....it was quite the experience! then we went to Van Buren Arkansas. One of the trucks got lost and didn't have a phone or GPS so the office was tracking them and they sent a couple elders to find them....long story short we (5 of us sisters) got ditched in the parking lot and waited like 2 hours until they showed up....it was pretty funny and Sister Buttars and I had a good ol heart to heart. I love that girl! then we went to Muskogee then to Tulsa and I was stuck in a truck with 4 sisters that were going home that day.....talk about trunky! i almost diedddddd. hahaha it was fun and all until they started talking about all their plans for home, it's chill though! I'm glad to be a missionary(: (: At Tulsa I got to see Sister Petersen!!!!!!!!! And of course, my new companion, Sister Kitchen!!! It was an awesome day(: 

This weekend was full of crazy weather!! Tons of rain that caused flooding, the streets were like rivers....then green skies, and tornado warnings!! It was so fun!! Haha we even had to run to the Bishops tornado shelter when they turned on the tornado sirens! It was epic! We were constantly on the phone with our District & Zone Leaders, President Shumway even called us! But nothing happened...just tons of rain. We ran to our car, we were probably outside for like 30 seconds and it looked like we just got out of the shower! It was insane, I've ever seen rain or lightning or heard thunder like that before. Fun timessssss

Saturday were had a competition in our District who could share their My Family book the most and guess who won? haaaaa Sister Kitchen and I shared it 22 times(: Granted, we went to a funeral and showed it to like everyone there but heyyyy we get free lunch next week hollaaaaa. Our district leader, Elder Lindsay, is sooooo good. He's so funny. Man...the mission so fun!! And we definitely work reallllllly hard(:

Mother's day was super special<3 <3 Sister Kitchen and I did all the music, she played the piano and I conducted. I even last minute conducted the youth singing songs for Mother's day. They got up there and realized the person that was supposed to conduct the melody of a bunch of songs was sick, so I just winged it hahaha the life of being a missionary. The speakers were great. I cried. We taught Gospel Principles<3 Then had lunch with a less active who is home bound. Then we called home<3 <3 That was theeee best! Sister Kitchen and I sang for our mamas but changed the words a lil bit to say:

I often go walking in meadows of clover,

And I gather armfuls of blossoms of blue.

I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over;

Dear mother, all flowers remind me of you.

O Mother, I give you my love with each flower,

to give forth sweet fragrance a whole lifetime through;

For my love of the Savior, Mother, I thank you.

I learn how to love Him, dear Mother, from you<3

CUTE RIGHT?! We thought so (; I love love love Sister Kitchen we are going to see so many miracles here!!

I wanna give a special thank you and send all my love to all the mother figures in my life:

First and forever my sweet mother, Michele<3

my sister Melissa

my sister Annie

my sister Rachael

my sister in law Molly

my grandma Vesta

my step mom Eileen

my aunts Tammy, Linda, Marsha, Pam, Suzette, and Lori

Lori Petit

Angie Broadbent

Lorna Kujanpaa

Lisa Maddox

Deb Hilner

Chris Ivins

Lynette Stratton

Lori Jensen

Carrie Bagley

Lori Eisenger

SUZ EVENSEN

Michelle Taggart

Marianne Baker

Theresa Shockley

Jan Phillips

Bonnie Hutchins

Tara Warren

Anne Shumway

Angelina Dayton

Debra Lafon

Kate Hockman

Jessica Smith

Nancy Decker

i'm sure there are many more and I'm so so grateful for all of ya'll!! Thank you for always loving me and showing me the kind of mother i want to be someday<3

ALL MY LOVE

SISTER BAILEY

whats in your milk? are you a moose? snitch & stitch forever

hey everyone!! 

we had a wonderful week! we have lots and lots and lots to do today so this is gonna be really short and sweet!

this week our zone got 100% member present lessons!! HOLLA

we ended up teaching 27 MP lessons!

we invited reagan and rebecca to be baptized

we went on a hike with the ysa and sang to a preacher and his wife

we got jesed and jair to the church, gave them a tour, and taught a bomb lesson about the plan of salvation

we got transfer calls...:( :( i'm going back to the motherland! I'll be in Henryetta Oklahoma, the district I just barely left from, with Sister Kitchen who is 3 months older than me! She's adorable. I'm both happy and sad. I hate to leave here I feel like I just got here....and I have so many amazing friends and all of our investigators are doing so good so it's kind of depressing to leave them...but the Elders replacing us will take good care of them...I HOPE. sooo the olsen's son is coming home from ole miss for the summer so thats why we are both leaving...it's the lamest and our stake president tried to convince president shumway to reconsider hahaha it was quite the conversation we had yesterday. but it'll chill. another area another adventure. mostly i'm just heartbroken i'm losing Sister Smith. She's my best friend and we have so much fun and work so hard and well together. I'll love her forever!!! Don't forget about me snitch!!<3

so this week will be crazy...lots of packing and getting ready for  the elders and saying good bye and hopefully not crying as much as we all did yesterday...haha but how grateful i am for fast sunday. we had the opportunity to attend ward council, 2 MCMs, and bare our testimony in both wards! I cried like a baby in YSA...haha but then I passed around my "year and a half book" (get it? like a year book lol" and everyone signed it and that made it better. I'll love these people forever. I'll miss Eliza, Lexie, Hayden, Chase, Micah, Seth, Nate, Joe, Brenda, Reagan, Rebecca, John, James, Justin, Michelle, and Kate!! and many many moreeeee<3 Mostly just grateful for all the friendships that have been formed here! I'm soooooo incredibly blessed!!

the other day I made of list of reasons  of WHY I came on my mission and also reasons why I am HERE...very different lists but it's interesting to see how things change or cease to matter over time. Missions give you such an eternal perspective. I decided that being a missionary is so hard because you literally can't call your mom when you had a bad day, nor your sister, nor can you ignore everyone in your room and so sometimes despite being in a room of people you feel really alone; but all in all it leads you to your knees. And in the end...He can bring more peace than anyone else or anything else could have. And if that is all I leave my mission with knowing I'd be content. But that ain't gonna happen because I get to meet people everyday that change my life and it's so fun. I actually started a lil book that just has names of people that changed my life, even if it was just a little thing, they still matter to me. I can't believe how much I've changed already...and it can only get better from here. Also I started this new way to study. I read a lil bit of everything. Whether it be a verse, page, column, or chapter I read until I am full. So I go through the Old Testament, New Testament, Bible Dictionary, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Ensign, True to the Faith, Preach my Gospel, For the Strength of the Youth, Prepare for the temple, the pamphlets, and general conference talks. It's been soooooo fun and I get wayyy more out of my studies. Then at night when I finish everything and writing in my journal and all that I read the Book of Mormon until 1030. It's the best. I'm specifically highlighting every time it talks about commandments and heart. It's really interesting and I'm learning soooooooooo much.

I'm heart broken I'm leaving...the mountains just keep getting higher but I'm getting stronger and "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord."

All my love,

Sister Jaybay Bailey

our cutest district

OTMing in downtown bentonville

JOHNNY DAMON MY CHILDHOOD HERO at the walmart museum. we taught some JWs that day...it was awesome and incredible awkward. as we were leaving the old guy said "hey you're a good lil preacher" and it made my heart happy!

i'll see ya'll in oklahomaaaaa with da rest of da oklahomies!!!